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Whitehawk Therapeutics Presents MUC16 as a Therapeutic Target in Ovarian Cancer

Whitehawk Therapeutics announced the presentation of two real-world analyses supporting mucin 16 as a durable therapeutic target and potential prognostic biomarker in ovarian cancer. These data will be presented at the International Gynecologic Cancer Society Annual Global Meeting October 1-3 in Montreal. In tumor samples from patients with ovarian cancer, MUC16 expression remained high and largely stable following standard-of-care treatments. Treatment-associated changes in MUC16 expression were consistently small, and MUC16 demonstrated less treatment-associated variation than several other ADC targets. These findings suggest MUC16 is a durable therapeutic target for ADCs across multiple lines of therapy, and support development strategies that include both combination approaches and treatment in relapsed disease. In a separate analysis of patients with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma - the most common histologic subtype accounting for approximately 70% of cases - high tumor MUC16 expression was prognostically associated with poor real-world overall survival. This association remained statistically significant after adjustment for key clinical and molecular covariates and was also observed among patients who were treatment-naive at first metastatic diagnosis.

Whitehawk Therapeutics Presents PTK7 as ADC Target for NSCLC

Whitehawk Therapeutics announced the presentation of two real-world analyses supporting protein tyrosine kinase 7, or PTK7, as a durable and clinically relevant ADC target in patients with pretreated, EGFR wild-type non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. The data will be presented at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, taking place September 12-15 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. In tumor samples from patients with EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma, PTK7 expression remained largely stable following standard-of-care treatments, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and demonstrated less treatment associated variation than several other ADC targets in late-stage development. PTK7 expression was also generally consistent regardless of the presence or absence of other actionable genomic alterations. These findings indicate PTK7 remains available for targeted ADCs for patients that have progressed through multiple lines of SoC therapy and across clinically relevant subgroups. A separate analysis of patients with advanced EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma found that real-world overall survival was not impacted based on PTK7-expression, supporting PTK7 as a target-engagement biomarker for ADC payload delivery independent of prognosis in NSCLC. PTK7 expression remained largely stable following standard-of-care immunotherapy, chemotherapy, chemoimmunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, suggesting that the target may remain available for PTK7-directed therapy after prior treatment. Stable PTK7 expression is also observed in paired tumor samples. PTK7 demonstrated less treatment-associated variation than several late-stage ADC targets, including MET, PD-L1 and ITGB6. PTK7 expression was generally consistent across tumors with or without other AGA, including KRAS G12C, ALK and MET alterations, suggesting relevance of PTK7 as an ADC target across both AGA+ and AGA- NSCLC subgroups. PTK7 expression was not independently associated with real-world overall survival or progression-free survival in patients with advanced EGFR wild-type lung adenocarcinoma receiving second- or later-line therapy, supporting PTK7 as a target-engagement biomarker rather than a marker of prognosis. Clinical outcomes were driven primarily by established prognostic factors, including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and extent of prior therapy. PTK7-low tumors were enriched for KEAP1 and STK11 alterations, suggesting biological heterogeneity of EGFR wild-type NSCLC.

Biocytogen and Whitehawk Therapeutics Announce Global Collaboration for Bispecific Antibody-Drug Conjugates

Biocytogen and Whitehawk Therapeutics announced a global collaboration to develop bispecific antibody-drug conjugates. Biocytogen will provide access to up to five bispecific antibodies using its proprietary RenLite platform, and Whitehawk will evaluate these in combination with its ADC linker-payload platform technologies. Whitehawk then has the option to advance any resulting BsADC candidates as part of its pipeline. Based on a common light-chain design, RenLite supports the discovery, screening, and optimization of fully human bispecific antibodies across diverse target combinations, while reducing the risk of light-chain mispairing and providing a robust molecular foundation for subsequent BsADC development. By bringing together the complementary capabilities of Biocytogen and Whitehawk, the collaboration aims to identify BsADC candidates with differentiated targeting profiles and therapeutic potential. Under the financial terms of the agreement, Biocytogen will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as low single-digit royalties on net sales. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. If Whitehawk exercises its option to advance any resulting BsADC candidates, Whitehawk will hold global rights and full program control of the BsADCs.